Ladies Who Lunch
by merrysoul
Summary: Sequel to Dancing in the Quiet. Cassandra and Steph centred friendship fic.


**Title**: Ladies who Lunch

**Classification**: PG

**Genre**: Friendship

**Category**: Batman/DC Comics

**Main Character**: Cassandra Cain

**Author**: Me

**Disclaimer**: I do not own any of the characters mentioned in this non-profit work of fanfiction; they all belong to DC.

**Author's note**: A fanfiction sequel piece to Dancing in the Quiet. Please read and review, it'd make my day. :)

* * *

><p><strong>Ladies who Lunch<strong>

"I can't believe it!" wailed Stephanie Brown, known as Steph.

"Not bad," falteringly said Cassandra Cain.

"Not bad? Not _bad_? How can you say things are not bad?" Steph near shrieked. "We almost had those mooks and would have too if the Batboys hadn't shown up and hogged all the glory! We put the hard work in, we spent ages on it –heck, we put our blood, sweat and tears into it!"

"'Heck?'" she quoted.

"We're superheroes, we should be good role models and they don't swear. At least, I don't think Superman is capable of doing so, being alien and all that jazz. Dam-er-dang it all to heck! See this? I tore my knee pretty badly to get that covert surveillance and it's worth the bleeding and pain as we got what we needed. Dang right, we put our blood, sweat and tears into this."

The sweating part was self explanatory as both had exerted themselves strenuously on the case. Cassandra looked at her best friend and asked, "Tears?"

"I'm going to start crying Cass! I had to wade through a sewer running under the meat district getting that surveillance and let me tell you, that was no picnic. I gave up going to Black Canary's wedding as I was stuck doing surveillance from the sewers! The sewers! I now _stink_!" she wailed, in tears. "It's going to take _weeks_ to wash off the smell from my hair alone!" She sniffed a strand and gagged, rushing to retch over the rooftop's side. Cassandra breathed through her mouth as she held Steph's hair back with her gloved hand, patting her back in what she hoped was a soothing manner.

After a while, she asked, "Better?"

Steph groaned, "Take me home, Cass; I'm too tired to move. Hose me down, make sure I don't drown and then shave all my hair off. It's the only way to be rid of this stink!"

Cassandra helped the highly upset Steph home and her friend went in for a highly needed wash. Soon, she was back with Barbara after her night's patrol was over. She listened as Barbara easily deployed the newly married Dinah Lance to a drug busting scene. Barbara was happy talking to Dinah, laughing at the other woman's jokes.

"We should meet up at that gorgeous restaurant in New York," came Dinah's voice over the line. "Invite the girls and we'll have a great time together."

Barbara asked, "Just like old times?"

"Are you kidding? Whenever we girls get together, it's always better than old times."

"Zinda's drinking and the many fights she either starts or drags us into never gets old," conceded Barbara. "I suppose I could dig out and dust off the escrima sticks for an outing." Cassandra looked at the dust free escrima sticks placed within Barbara's reach, wondering if she had another pair used specifically when around Dinah and her other friends. It wouldn't surprise her if that was the case.

"Give me five minutes, seven minutes tops and then I'll be free to talk details," said Dinah.

Barbara switched comm lines, Helena Bertinelli on the other end. "What do you think of a group trip to that restaurant you were recommended?" she asked.

"Sounds great and it should cheer up Dinah from having to clean up after her new husband's dirty underwear."

Barbara laughed at that. "I could hear her screaming at him all the way from here about that. Besides, it was Dinah's idea for us all to go out together."

Cassandra was content to simply watch Barbara work and talk. Dinah was upset and Barbara and her other female friends were banding together to help cheer her up. When Tim got upset, he had his own friends to help cheer him up, as well as Dick and Barbara. When Dick got upset, he had his best friends to turn to.

She realized that Steph only had her to turn to; Cassandra could now see that best friends had to cheer each other up when down. How was she meant to cheer up Steph though? She doubted that shaving off all of Steph's hair as she slept would be a good idea, even if Steph had been the one to suggest it in the first place. What could she do for Steph?

Perhaps another case where Steph could shine? One without anyone else taking the credit? It'd been Steph who had done all the hard work into the case where the boys had stolen the credit. Steph had invited Cassandra along, not just for her admittedly superior fighting prowess but for company and as she was her friend, Steph had just wanted to share the adventure with her. Steph knew she liked patrolling and fighting, both were fun for Cassandra; Steph had gone out of her way to include both around Cassandra as she knew it would make her happy.

Cassandra hadn't ever gone out of her way to do something Steph liked for the sole reason that Steph liked it. If she was going to cheer up her friend, she had to think of something other than patrol or fighting. She had to think of something that Steph would find fun and would enjoy.

* * *

><p>Steph was in a slightly better mood the following evening, if not quite fully rid of the lingering scent from her time spent holed up in the sewers. "Go home," said Cassandra, voice firm.<p>

"I never thought that you of all people would go all Bat-like on me!" said Steph.

"Rest," she said. "Meet me for lunch tomorrow."

"You've got a case where you want me to back you up – in the middle of the day?" she stared at her.

How to go about her idea on cheering up Steph? She slowly said, "No case. We will have lunch."

"Just lunch? Isn't it a lot of effort to put on our uniforms and masks just to – no!" gasped Steph. She jumped up and down, squealing happily. "I don't believe it! You want us to have lunch! No masks, no capes – just us two, out in public, having lunch! Not just any lunch but a best friends only lunch! Black Canary and the great wizard of "O" have lunch dates – do you know what this means? We're going to be ladies who do lunch! Lunch? Yes, we will definitely do lunch! This is going to be epic!" she cried, enthusiastically hugging her.

She'd hoped to meet up with Steph and discuss what Steph wanted to do with Cassandra for non-patrolling kind of fun. She hadn't realized that the mere act of simply having lunch would delight Steph so much but she'd go with it seeing as it made her friend so happy.

"Where are we eating?" asked Steph.

Cassandra guessed, "Park?"

Steph shook her head. "Oh no, even I know ladies don't do lunch in a Gotham park. The point of doing lunch is to get away from the boys we know and to avoid being drawn into crime related things. If we go to a park for lunch, we're guaranteed to be on the receiving end of an attempted mugging at the very least. This lunch is going to be all about Stephanie Brown and Cassandra Cain, no masks and no capes involved. It also means you're going to have to dress nicely without your uniform on – no concealed batarangs, no gadgets, no gizmos and definitely no boy bats anywhere near us."

"I will bring food?" she asked.

Steph sighed, "I have so much to teach you. When ladies do lunch, choosing their meals is a big part of the fun. I have got to get home and really scrub myself clean before tomorrow. You're right, I should be home – I will not look or smell bad for my first ever girl's lunch date with you," she vowed. "Leave me a message on where and when we'll meet for lunch. I'm going home to wash my hair."

Visiting the Batcave a few hours later, Cassandra sipped on the drink that Alfred had handed to her. "Will you be staying here with Miss Gordon soon to be going out of Gotham?" asked Alfred.

Fixing up the Batmobile with Tim, Dick said, "Of course, Cass is going to stay here. All of us bat kids, under one bat roof, with the bat head, the bat butler –"

Alfred coughed pointedly. "Ahem."

"...Bruce, you're standing right behind me, aren't you?"

"Shouldn't you be writing up the report I asked for?" asked Bruce, walking to the computer console. Tim and Dick followed after him, both giving Bruce a verbal report from a shared case they'd worked on.

She lightly touched Alfred's arm and he looked questioningly at her. He asked, "Yes, Miss Cassandra?"

She said, "Stephanie and –" she touched her chest, acknowledging herself, "will have lunch. Ladies lunch. Need a nice park for lunch."

Alfred looked horrified. "Ladies do not do lunch in any Gotham park! Leave the organising to me and I will endeavour to find a suitable place. I trust you will be able to dress yourself capably?" She nodded, knowing he'd never allow her to leave if he even suspected she had so much as a uniform glove hidden on her. Or if she didn't dress up enough for the lunch meeting.

* * *

><p>Steph turned up at the meeting spot right on time, dressed in a purple dress. Her friend's blonde hair was shiny and differently styled to normal. "I near scrubbed myself raw but smell me now – I'm clean!" she happily said. "I woke up nice and rested – heck, I even had time to curl my hair!"<p>

"Smell nice," she said.

"I know, right? Never again will I go into the sewers. Are we having lunch here? Nice place! Ooh, eye candy!" she whistled as they went in to their waiting table. "Cass, check out the hot boys here!"

Steph kept up with a running commentary on the waiters and how they compared against each other in her eyes. She did pause long enough to help Cassandra with the menu and ordering their lunch. Their waiter left and another arrived with breadsticks.

"These are yummy, Cass," said Steph, biting into one. "Speaking of yumminess, I got it from a certain little bird that you danced the night away with a certain super yummy archer at BC's wedding. I had to hear it from someone else – we've been too busy to catch up but this is the perfect setting for a girl talk!"

Cassandra looked around, trying to see why it was an ideal place for such a talk.

"No one knows us here - we're just two normal girl best friends having lunch. How did you two start dancing? Did he make the first move? No wait – how long have you had a crush on him? You know, like liked him?" widely grinned Steph.

She felt her cheeks go red despite herself. She quietly said, "We just danced."

"Uh, huh. Sure, right. I bet you haven't been in touch with him since then." At her silence, Steph cried, "I knew it! That is going to change after we have lunch. You're going to call him and arrange a date with him. He's quite like you, isn't he? At least, I think so from what I've heard of him though it's mostly been about how super hot he is. Here's what is going to happen, you're going to take charge and call him, arranging the date. You can do your super kung fu team up to save the world or whatever but it will secretly be a date. A guy that shy, he'd run off faster than the Flash if you bring up the 'd' word around him – sneakily dating him is the way to go. The first date can't be held in Gotham as you-know-who will interfere."

You know who? Steph stuck up two pointy fingers alongside her head at her look. Batman. He wouldn't like someone like Connor inside Gotham even though he wasn't a metahuman.

Steph paused and looked at her. "Cass, you do know that even if you don't want to date him or anyone else, you can still arrange to meet him up as just friends? You don't have to do anything you don't want to or aren't ready for."

She nodded. "I know. We call Connor."

"Great! I'm not sure if it's for friendship, dating or just to practice your mad kung fu with someone who can keep up with you but sure, we'll call him. Do you have his number?" She shook her head. Steph face palmed herself saying, "Dang it, now we have to get his number somehow."

Cassandra traced Dick's Nightwing 'V' on herself. "He will give it," she confidently said.

"He adores you, Cass – of course he'll give it to you. He's a bit of a jerk to me but sure, he'd help you out. You know the worst thing about those boys taking over our case? I thought that it was finally my time to shine. No, it was our time to shine," she said, correcting herself. "I found the case all on my own, I worked it from utter scratch and after all that time and effort, and I didn't even get to close it myself. It wouldn't have meant much in the grand scheme of things but it'd have meant something to me – it'd have been proof to myself that I'm better than what others see me as. The two of us, we'd have proven beyond a shadow of a doubt that we make a duo not just equally as good as pointy ears and little bird but that we're even better." Steph sighed unhappily, "Stupid boys and their stupid credit stealing thievery!"

Cassandra patted her friend's hand. "We know we are better."

"We are and that's the main thing," agreed Steph, brightening up. "I will drink to that! Apple juice or sparkling water, Cass? No, it has to be sparkling water, it's more grown up. Here's to us, the most bottom kicking and name taking dynamic duo in the history of all history!"

Cassandra smiled as she chinked her glass against Steph's.


End file.
